Paper-making machine.



(No Model.)

wane/aces Patented July I5, 1902.

G. s. W ITHAM.

PAPER MAKING MACHINE.

(Application filed Feb. 27, 1902.)

' a $heetsSheet I.

No. 704,607. Patented July l5, I902.

a. s. WITHAM.

PAPER MAKING MACHINE.

(Applicatiqn filed Feb. 27, 1902,)

3 Sheets$heet 2.

(No Model.)

0.. WASNINUYON u c No. 704,607. Patented July I5, [902.

G. S. WITHAM.

PAPER MAKING MACHINE.

(Applicaticn filed Feb. 27, 1902.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I I r I3.10m. q/Vihmaoea I Q Ado 0W,

Kim M NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE S. WITHAM, OF MILLINOCKET, MAINE.

PAPER-MAKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,607, dated July 15,1902.

Application filed February 27, 1902, Serial No. 95,988. (No modelJ Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. W1'rHAM,-a citizen of the United States,residing at Millinocket, in the county of Penobscot and State of Maine,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-MakingMachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to paper-making machines in which the sheet or webof paper after having been pressed and before passing through thecalender-s is led through driers consisting of heated cylinders or drumsand endless felts, which latter press the paper against the cylindersand also cause it to move from one driving cylinder to the otherthroughout the series.

The object of my invention is to provide efficient means for starting aweb of paper through the driers after it has been broken or torn.Ordinarily whenever the paper is broken or torn it is led through thedriers by hand, the attendant feeding the front end of the webseparately into the bight of the cylinders and felts throughout theseries. I have provided a device which automatically leads the paperthrough the series of dryingcylinders whenever a break occurs or whenstarting up the machine.

My invention is especially adapted for use in that class of driers knownas doubledeck driers, in which two series of horizontal cylinders ordrums, one above the other, are used in connection with two endlessbelts, one moving in contact with the upper surface of the upper seriesof cylinders, while the other moves in contact with the under surface ofthe lower series. In the accompanying drawings I have shown myimprovements applied to driers of this class.

Figure l is a diagram showing a side elevation of paper-drying apparatuswith my improvements applied. Fig. 2 is also a diagram in perspectiveshowing the manner in which the pilot which I employ for leading thepaper through the drying apparatus is used. Fig. 3 is a perspective viewof one form of pilot. This figure also illustrates how the end of thepaper is attached to the pilot. Fig. 4 shows another form of pilot andindicates the manner of attaching the end of the paper to it. Fig. 5 isa perspective view of the pilot shown in Fig. 4, and this figure alsoshows the manner of attaching the paper. Fig. 6 is a diagram inperspective showing the manner of using the form of pilot illustrated inFig. 3. Fig. 7 shows an elevation of the guide for the pilot shown inFigs. 2, 4, and 5. Fig.8 is a view of the same at right angles to theview shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 shows an elevation of a guide for the pilotshown in Figs. 8 and 6. Fig. 10 shows an end elevation of thepilot-guide shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a detail view illustrating thecatch for holding the pilot in the guide.

The drums (shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 6) may be of ordinary construction,the cylinders or drums A A being arrangedin two series, one above theother, in diiferent vertical planes, and the upper felt B and lower feltC are constructed and arranged in the usual way, being guided, as usual,by rollers D.

E indicates a roller, which may or may not be heated, for guiding thepaper X into the bight of the first lower drying-cylinder, and Findicates a doctor, which is commonly em ployed in drying apparatus ofthis class.

The paper moves in the direction of the arrow 1 from the press-rollersover the guideroller E into the bight of the first lower drying-cylinderand the lower felt, as indicated at 00 in Fig. 1. After passing aroundthe lower surface of the first lower drying-cylinder it passes to theupper surface of the first upper drying-cylinder A and then passesthroughout the series of cylinders, as indicated by the arrows and inthe usual manner. As long as the web of paper is continuous and unbrokenit passes throughout the entire machine without interruption from thefourdrinier to the winding-rolls; but when the paper is broken or tornthe operation of the machine is interrupted. Ordinarily this is remediedin the following manner: The attendant at the fourdrinier cuts the 'webof paper diagonally, as indicated in Fig. 4, producing a narrow end :13,which may be readily handled by an attendant, who threads this endthrough the difierent parts of the apparatus, the part out 01f from theweb X running to waste. It is not necessary to describe how this narrowend is threaded through the press-rollers or other parts of theapparatus, as my invention relates to the drying mechanism. In order tothread the paperthrough the driers, the attendant takes hold of thefront end as of the web, feeds it into the bight of the firstdrying-cylinder at m, and when it has passed under the firstdrying-cylinder he takes hold of it again as it rises and feeds it intothe bight of the first upper drying-cylinder, and in like manner feedsit into the bight of the several cylinders throughout the series. Thisis the ordinary practice; but it requires time and is a dangerousoperation, as the hands of the attendant are apt to be drawn in betweenthe felts and the cylinders, which latter are highly heated. W'ebs ofpaper are now made of great width, sometimes being between one hundredand twenty-five and one hundred and fifty inches in width, and it is ofcourse impossible for one attendant to handle the wide web and threadit. For this reason the paper has been cut diagonally in the mannerbefore described, and it has been found that when so cut the web may bethreaded by an attendant through the .driers.

According to my invention I employ a device to take the place of'theattendant for threading the drier. This device may be made in variousways. I have shown two forms of the invention which are found to be thebest. I call the device a pilot, as it serves to lead and direct thepaper from one end of the series of drying-cylinders to the otherwithout any handling or other attention from the attendant. In Figs. 4and 5 the pilot is shown as consisting of a long piece of metal H,preferably of spring-steel,

with curved or rounded ends h and a laterally-projecting arm h, located,preferably, about midway between its ends. The pilot is made from thinsheet metal. Its widest part is preferably midway between its ends, andit gradually tapers toward the opposite ends. The edges are smooth andthe outer end of the arm h is made curved or smooth, as indicated inFig. 5. The pilot should be of suificient length to reach from the bightof the lower felt and one of'the lower cylinders to the bight of theupper felt and the next upper cylinder, as indicated in Fig. 2. Usuallythis is about three feet. The arm 71. is preferably about ten incheslong; but this is not important. It should belong enough to take a goodhold on the narrow end of the paper in the manner indicated in Figs. 2,4, and 5. When the web of paper is broken, a narrow cut is made in theweb, as before described, and when this narrow end reaches the roller Eit is guided down into the bight of the lower felt in the first lowercylinder and passes around the under surface of the first lowercylinder. Its tendency would be to pile up against the doctor F.Heretofore, as before described, the attendant picks it up at this pointand feeds it into the bight of the first upper cylinder; but accordingto my invention' the pilot is dropped into the bight of the lower feltand the first lower cylinder at the proper time, so that its arm h willpick up the front end of the web and the attendant may simply turn theend of the paper over the arm in the manner indicated in Figs. 2 and 5,so that the web of paper becomes attached to the pilot, which will thencarry it throughout the series ofdriers. being made of thin springmetal, will bend while passing around the lower cylinder, and, beingelastic, as' soon as its front endrises from the lower surface of thefirst lower cylinder it will straighten out and point toward the bightof the upper felt and the first upper cylinder-that is, toward the pointmarked y in Fig. 1. it to enter between the upper felt and the firstupper cylinder, and it will then pass around the upper surface of thiscylinder, bending in the proper manner to conform to the surface of thecylinder and then straightening out and point to theplace marked 3 thenpassing into the bight of the lower felt and the second lower cylinder.In like manner the pilot passes from one cylinder to the otherthroughout the series, carrying the paper with it as it goes, and thusfinally threading the narrow end of the paper through the driers, theweb of uniform lengthin this mannerbeing finally completely threaded,and the machine may then be operated continuously in the ordinary way.Of course the speed of the pilot is the same as that of the paper, sothat there is no undue tension on the paper, which would tend to breakit. After having traversed the entire series of driers the pilot willfall to the floor, where it may be separated from the paper. I havefound it convenient to hold the pilot in a guide, so that it may beaccurately fed to the driers when its services are required. Such aguide is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 7, and 8. It consists of a piece ofangle-iron I of about the length of the pilot, provided with aspring-catch J, attached to it near its middle portion and which isadapted to engage with the arm h of the pilot. The guide may be attachedto any part of the machine, being arranged at the proper angle to guidethe pilot into the bight of the lower felt and the first lowerdrying-cylinder in the manner indicated in Fig. 1. By simply tripping!the catch the guide may be allowed to fall into the bi ght of the feltand drier, it only being necessary to trip the catch at the proper time,so that the arm h will be in proper relation to the web when the latteris in position to be attached to the pilot.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modified form of pilot. In this instance twolong. sheet-metal plates or bars K are employed, connected by across-piece 70, making the pilot substantially H-shaped. The arm 71 inFig. 5 may be formed integrally with the main portion 71. of the pilot,or it may be separately secured thereto, care being taken to avoidprojections of any kind, so that the pilot may be per- The pilot,

Its further movement will cause fectly smooth. In like manner thecrosspiece 70 may be formed integrally with the side pieces K or it maybe secured thereto either by brazing, soldering, or riveting, care beingtaken to avoid projections, which would be apt to tear the paper or toinjure the driers and felts.

WVhen an H-shaped pilot is used, the guide is somewhat modified. A guidesuitable for such a pilot is shown in Figs. 6 and 9. It consists of twoangle-irons L, connected by a crossplate M, provided with a spring-catchJ, similar to that shown in Fig. 8. This guide is arranged in the samemanner as the guide I, and the operation of moving the pilot over theguide is the same.

The form of the pilot may of course be modified in various ways, but itsconstruction should be such that it can bend when passing around thecylinders, and it should be of such length as to reach from one cylinderto the other, sufficient elasticity being provided to cause the pilot tostraighten out after bending, and it should have a device of some kind,such as the arm 7t of the crosspiece It, to which the narrow end of thepaper may be attached.

I claim as my invention 1. A pilot for leading a web of paper throughdriers, consisting of a spring-metal plate adapted to reach from onedrying-cylinder to another and having a device for engaging the end ofthe paper.

2. A pilot for leading a web of paper through driers, consisting of aspring-metal plate adapted to reach from one drying-cylinder to another,and having a lateral projection for engaging the end of the paper.

A pilot for leading a web of paper through driers consisting of a thinelastic plate or bar having smooth or rounded ends and alaterally-projecting arm between its ends for engaging the end of thepaper.

4. A pilot for leading the web of paper through driers, consisting oftwo spring-metal plates adapted to reach from one drying-cylinder toanother and having a cross-piece for engaging the end of the paper.

5. The combination with the upper and lower series of drying-cylindersand their felts,of a pilot for threading a web of paper therethrough,consisting of a thin springmetal plate adapted to reach from onedryingcylinder to another, and having a device for engaging the end ofthe paper.

6. The combination with the upper and lower cylinders and their felts,of a pilot for leadinga web of paper therethrough, consisting of a thinsheet1netal plate adapted to reach from one drying-cylinder to anotherand having a laterally-projecting arm for engaging the end of the paper.

7. The combination of the drying-cylinders

